Creamy Indian Black Beans Curry with Coconut Milk

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• How to cook black beans using an Instant pot
• Detailed Steps
• Recipe Notes and Variations
• Serving suggestions
• Storage
• Recipe

Ingredients

Black beans: I cooked black beans from scratch and used them in this curry. You can use canned black beans also. If using canned black beans, drain and rinse them to remove the excess salt.

Coconut milk: I used homemade coconut milk to make this vegan black bean curry. You can use store-bought coconut milk as well.

Tomato: Tomato is optional, and you can skip them if you don't have some in handy. I used fresh tomatoes, but canned tomatoes or store-bought tomato puree also works here.

Spices: This curry will be mildly spiced, and you can use freshly ground black pepper and red chili flakes or increase the red chili powder to make it spicier. And I used garam masala powder, and you can skip it or use curry powder instead.

How to cook black beans using an Instant pot

• Soak the black beans for 6 to 8 hours. Soaking is optional, and you can cook dried beans also using an Instant pot.
• Wash the soaked or dried black beans a couple of times and add them to the Instant pot inner pot.
• Then add water and salt. Close the Instant pot with its lid. Seal the pressure valve. Use 2 cups of water for soaked black beans and 3 cups for dried black beans.
• Select manual or pressure cook mode and cook it for 9 minutes on high pressure for soaked black beans. If you have aged beans, cook them for 12 to 14 minutes.
• Cook it for 30 minutes on high pressure for dried black beans. If you have aged beans, cook them for 35 to 40 minutes.
• Once the Instant pot finishes cooking, wait for 10 minutes and manually release the pressure.
• Strain the beans and keep them aside. You can use the residual water for cooking the curry.

Detailed Steps

• Heat a deep-bottomed pan or skillet. Once it is hot, add oil, bay leaves, grated ginger, grated garlic, and finely chopped onions. Saute the onions for a couple of minutes.

• To this onion mixture, add finely chopped bell pepper. I used green bell pepper, but you can use any colored pepper. Let the bell peppers cook for 3 to 4 minutes.

• Now add finely chopped tomatoes and let them cook for 4 to 5 minutes. I used fresh tomatoes here. You can use canned tomato puree or canned tomatoes as well. 

• Once tomatoes soften, add spice powders - turmeric powder, red chili powder, ground cumin, ground coriander, garam masala powder, and salt. Mix everything well.

• Now add black beans and give a good mix. I used home-cooked black beans. If using canned beans, drain and rinse them well to remove excess salt.

• Add coconut milk and simmer the curry for 5 minutes over medium heat. You can add more water or coconut milk to thin out the curry as per your desired consistency.

• Switch off the flame, and the creamy, delicious black bean curry is ready to serve. A dash of lemon juice and a handful of cilantro leaves just before serving the curry will enhance the curry taste.

Recipe Notes and Variations

• Garam masala powder is optional. You can skip it or instead use curry powder.
• This vegan black bean curry is mildly spiced. You can use an additional half teaspoon red chili powder, freshly ground black pepper, or red chili flakes to make the curry spicy.
• You can add more veggies like carrots, beetroot, cauliflower, broccoli, potato, sweet potato, pumpkin, zucchini, or squash. Simmer the curry till the veggies are cooked thoroughly.
• Depending on the availability, I like to add fresh leafy greens like spinach, kale, collard greens, bok choy, or swiss chard to this curry. Add them at the end and simmer them for 3 to 4 minutes.
• Instead of coconut milk, you can use other plant-based milk like soy milk, almond milk, or cashew milk to make this curried black beans. You can even use vegetable stock to add more flavor to the curry.
• I used fresh tomatoes to make this vegan black bean curry. Tomato puree or canned tomatoes also work for this recipe.

• Fresh herbs like mint, cilantro, parsley, and basil will enhance the flavor and taste of the curry. Finely chop the herbs and add them to the curry once you take it out of the heat.
• If you do not have black beans or don't like them, you can make this delicious curry with other beans like kidney beans, pinto beans, black-eyed peas, or even chickpeas.

Serving suggestions

Rice and this curried black beans are a perfect match. But you can serve this along with millet, quinoa, or naan bread.

You can use this leftover curry as a sandwich topping, tortilla filling, or even make quesadillas.

Storage

As we are using coconut milk, store this curry in the refrigerator. You can keep this curry at room temperature for 6 to 8 hours.

You can refrigerate it for 2 to 3 days and freeze it for three months.

I prefer freezing the cooked black beans and making the curry when needed.

You will like my other curry recipes on the blog as you are here.

Chickpea and vegetable curry - easy and quick chickpea curry with seasonal veggies and coconut milk.

Indian black-eyed peas curry - Indian spiced black-eyed peas curry with staple ingredients.

Lentil spinach curry - Creamy and delicious lentil curry with the goodness of coconut milk and spinach.

Indian chickpea curry - Indian restaurant-style chana masala curry.

Kidney beans curry - easy bean curry with seasonal veggies.

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Recipe